Man who killed two kids with drug-laden SUV pleads guilty

David Rodriquez got a lifetime prison sentence for his role in a crash that killed two young boys.

David Rodriquez got a lifetime prison sentence for his role in a...

SAN ANTONIO — A San Antonio man already serving a life sentence in the state penal system for a crash that killed two young boys as he fled from police during a narcotics bust has pleaded guilty to an additional charge — this time in federal court.

Express Newsletters

Get the latest news, sports and food features sent directly to your inbox.

David Rodriguez, 31, now faces five to 40 years in federal prison for possession with intent to deliver more than 100 kilograms, or 220 pounds, of marijuana.

Federal sentencing guidelines allow prior convictions to be used against a defendant in determining a sentence, but Rodriguez's murder conviction in December relating to the crash won't affect his federal sentence, according to a plea deal struck Tuesday by defense attorney John Convery. The deal also allows him to serve whatever time he gets in the federal case concurrently with the life sentence.

“The parties agree that defendant's role was average,” the plea deal states. “Because defendant was prosecuted for his role in the deaths that resulted from his flight from police and was assessed a maximum life sentence, the parties agree and recommend that this conduct not be used to calculate defendant's base offense level.”

Rodriguez is to be sentenced later this year by U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia.

At his state district court trial, Rodriguez disputed that he caused the deaths of brothers Wesley Maspero, 1, and Walter Maspero, 3, in September 2012. Prosecutors said he slammed head-on into their parents' station wagon as he fled police with 419 pounds of marijuana in his SUV.

He was found guilty of the murder of Wesley. A separate charge stemming from Walter's death is still pending.

On the day of the wreck, Rodriguez had picked up drugs at a rural home in South Bexar County that police had been monitoring. As suspects left the home, police were stopping them for traffic violations and making arrests.

When they tried to stop Rodriguez, he sped away, eventually traveling the wrong way down an access road along Interstate 35, narrowly missing a police car and smashing into the Maspero family's vehicle.

At the trial, defense attorneys Ted Wood and Joanne Eakle blamed officers for the wreck. The attorneys contended that the “undercover cowboys” with the San Antonio Police Department were more interested in making a big bust than following their own chase policy.

Federal officials chose to continue prosecuting Rodriguez for the drug offense despite his already-lengthy incarceration because he is part of a larger group that is being focused on for the alleged drug conspiracy, current defense attorney Convery said.